Lori Falce: Finding a solution to political violence is science fiction

One of the best things that my husband gave me was an introduction to “Doctor Who.”

Yes, I know, you are here for the politics on a week where the news is kind of noteworthy. But trust me, we’ll get there. We just have a slight sci-fi detour.

I resisted the story of a time-traveling alien in a blue British police box for decades. When forced to actually sit down and watch, however, I fell in love. It isn’t just about the fantasy of it. It’s the way it couches real problems in fictional situations.

This is nothing new. “Star Trek” has been doing it for decades. Rod Serling built “The Twilight Zone” on it. Tell people what they need to know, but show it to them reflected through the lens of another world. It’s not a criticism of you, the stories say, while coaxing you to notice that it could be.

In 2015, an episode of “Doctor Who” showed us shapeshifting aliens who were taking over the world, replacing the natives surreptitiously. This is, again, nothing new. “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” with Pittsburgh’s own Jeff Goldblum did this brilliantly in 1978.

But what “Doctor Who” did was give us a totally improbable solution. It cannot happen in real life. The Doctor made both sides forget whether they were the originals or the copies, just long enough to de-escalate the tensions.

In the last two days, I have never wanted a science fiction solution to a problem so much.

I am exhausted by fear for my loved ones and my community and my country — the whole world, to be honest. I am wrung out with the constant stress of whether the terrible thing that happens today will be eclipsed by the terrible thing that happens tomorrow.

And I am grief-stricken by the amount of hatred I am encouraged to have. As a centrist, I am frequently told by both sides that I am part of the problem.

But as Charlie Kirk’s family mourns his murder in Utah — and as too many families in too many cities across the country mourn other ideologically motivated violence — I just want to know why it can’t stop.

Why can’t we talk to each other without blame and anger? Why does so much have to end in threats and intimidation, if not actual blood and death?

And why does every answer I am given involve a pointed finger?

I know we don’t live in a world where a time machine has an infinite amount of space on the inside or where a sonic screwdriver can fix almost anything.

But today Kirk’s two little kids who did nothing wrong are paying the price for what someone else did.

I really wish we could all just forget why we are fighting long enough to find some peace. Would it last? Of course not. That would be a real fantasy.